The four men were declared innocent after the SIT probing the incident arrested three other men on Tuesday on charges of cow slaughter.

NEW DELHI: The special investigation team (SIT) on Tuesday revealed that the four Muslims men arrested on the charge of alleged cow slaughter in Western UP’s Bulandshahr were innocent.

According to the Indian Express, the four men were declared innocent after the SIT probing the incident arrested three other men on Tuesday on charges of cow slaughter.

Bulandshahr SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary told the daily, “We found all four persons arrested earlier are innocent and after verifying other details, we will move the court for their release.”

The four men identified as Sarfuddin, Sajid, Asif and Nanhe of Naya Bans village were arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Yogesh Raj, Bajrang Dal district convenor, the main conspirator behind the mob violence is still on the run since the incident.

On December 3, a mob comprising members of Hindutva groups shot dead Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the SHO of the Siyana police station and Sumit Kumar after cow carcasses were allegedly found near Siyana village.

Yogesh Raj had named seven Muslims, claiming that he had witnessed them slaughtering the cows. Minors aged 11 and 12 were among seven Muslims named in an FIR for the alleged cow slaughter.